A CrossWorlds: A Miraculous Short Story
by PBO
Summary: Marinette finds herself in the video game world of CrossCode where she joins Emilie and C-Tron as they venture to the newly discovered Si'renia Temple in order to obtain the fifth elemental power: the Tide. Part 2: New Game Plus, coming soon!


Marinette found herself in CrossWorlds, an expansive virtual reality game. She was in Basin Keep, a futuristic brown-colored city where it always rained. It was lit up by the light of lamp posts and skyscrapers. It perpetually gave off the smell of rain on pavement that gave it a pleasantly calm, late-night atmosphere.

Marinette was in her Ladybug form, but being in CrossWorlds gave her costume a techno-organic edge to it. She also had two mechanical horns settled snuggly atop her head. She entered the Seeker Hub, seeing a large number of avatars, some who looked friendly and some who looked stuck up. She happened upon two characters who caught her interest and introduced herself.

"Hi," said Marinette to the two friendly avatars.

"Hello," said a freckled redhead, her green eyes greeting Marinette's warmly. "The name is Emilie-Sophie de Belmond."

« Ah, t'es français aussi ! » chirped Marinette. « Alors, je m'appelle Marinette, une fille comme les autres ! »

« Ou là là, » responded Emilie, amused by Marinette's bubbly personality. « Enchantée, Marinette. »

C-Tron, the nerdy, bespectacled comrade of Emilie, saw the two girls speaking excitedly and decided to flex what little French skills he had.

« Combien de pieds y a-t-il en France ? » said C-Tron.

Marinette and Emilie burst out laughing, making C-Tron blush. Marinette took note of the jewel engraved on his forehead and the purple highlights in his spiky, black hair.

"You just asked how many feet there are in France," giggled Marinette at his amusing faux pas.

"T-That is NOT what I meant to say," stuttered C-Tron.

"Maybe Monsieur Scientist isn't as smart as he thinks he is," teased Emilie. "Right, Tronny?"

C-Tron huffed, trying to hide his embarrassment and disdain for the nickname Emilie gave him.

"Anyway," said Emilie. "I think you should join our party, Marinette. FYI, I'm a Pentafist, a physical hand-to-hand combatant."

"And I'm a Hexacast," added C-Tron. "A mage class specializing in ranged projectiles. What are you, Marinette?"

"I'm a level 50 Spheromancer," said Marinette proudly, brandishing her weapon of choice: two large, red rings in each hand.

"Impressive," responded Emilie. "That means the three of us are all around the same skill set. Do you have access to all four elements?"

"Yup," said Marinette. "I did hear about the latest update, though. I think it's called 1.69-3. What's new in it?"

"I'll show you," said C-Tron, leading Marinette and Emilie towards the digital bulletin board. "It says it right here. 'Attention all Seekers: a new update to the game has been patched.'"

"Yay!" cheered Marinette.

The other avatars shook their heads at Marinette for acting like such a dork. She just shrugged innocently in response, unashamed of herself.

"As I was saying," chuckled C-Tron, charmed by Marinette's excitement. "In this latest update, Seekers will be able to discover a previously hidden region of the game."

"The Palace of Amphitrite is found in the watery depths to the south of Rookie Harbor," said Marinette, continuing to read the notice aloud. "The palace is inhabited by a peaceful society of merfolk known as the Nereid race."

"At the heart of the palace sits the statue of the goddess Amphitrite herself," started Emilie, continuing where Marinette left off. "Waiting to bless Seekers who must venture through Si'renia Temple where they can attain the previously unknown fifth element: the Tide."

Emilie and Marinette looked to one another, both of them buzzing at the prospect of a new adventure.

"Let's go!" said Emilie.

Marinette left the Seeker Hub with Emilie and C-Tron in tow. She headed towards the south of the city when she felt a hand stop her.

"Where are you going?" asked Emilie.

"We're going to the Palace of Amphitrite," said Marinette, confused. "Right? It's over that way."

"We could just teleport," teased Emilie.

"Right," said Marinette. "I knew that."

C-Tron pulled up a holographic menu and toggled the world map. He slid the cursor over to Rookie Harbor and instant traveled there. Before Marinette could blink, the world became a matrix of pixels before her eyes. In a split second, they were standing on a pier in Rookie Harbor, looking out at the vast, blue expanse before them.

"We make our way to the palace through the Adalari Sea," informed C-Tron.

"So we just… go into the water?" asked Emilie. "Our avatars take damage when we do that!"

Right as Emilie uttered those words, an immaculately designed arched entrance rose from the waters. Emilie and C-Tron looked at one another, surprised by this new game feature.

"I guess you could say the developers really upped their game," joked Marinette, getting a chuckle out of her new friends.

Marinette, Emilie and C-Tron walked through the entrance, instantly feeling the ground shake as it gave way beneath their feet: the entrance was trapping them underwater. Before they could panic, Emilie took a deep breath.

"Wait a minute," she said, shocked. "We can breathe underwater."

"We probably should have read some more about this region before we got here," said C-Tron. "We wouldn't want our avatars to get hur—what?!"

C-Tron's yell frightened Marinette and Emilie.

"You two have fins!" he said.

"We all do," remarked Emilie, pointing at the purple flippers where his legs used to be. "This is really cool!"

"Enough talking," said Marinette, swimming along happily in her Aqua Ladybug form. "Back to the action!"

Marinette, Emilie and C-Tron swam with their newly acquired fins through the dark waters of the Adalari Sea. Off in the distance, Marinette could see different aquatic animals, like jellyfish and angelfish, glowing in the darkness. It was like seeing lightning underwater.

"It's probably best to keep our distance," warned C-Tron.

"Laser bridge!" exclaimed Emilie as they arrived at a clearing. "I love laser bridges."

"You've said as much," said C-Tron. "About a thousand times, to be exact."

Marinette giggled, being the first to cross the laser bridge, which actually resembled more of a tunnel. As they looked around, the ocean around them was illuminated: whales, dolphins, sharks, jellyfish, and much more marine life lived in this secret, sapphire world in perfect harmony.

"And here we are," announced Emilie.

The Palace of Amphitrite was an oceanic wonderland, with the Nereid people riding seahorses as their form of transportation. Marinette, Emilie and C-Tron took a moment to let the audiovisual sensation set in. It was magical.

"This place is incredible," said Marinette, accidentally bumping into someone. "Oh, sorry!"

Marinette looked up to see a handsome, green-haired Nereid. He just kept swimming past her, completely unfazed.

"He's just an NPC," snickered Emilie. "We can't interact with him."

Marinette blushed, embarrassed yet again by her clueless behavior as all the other NPC Nereids played their civilian roles.

"That must be the statue," said C-Tron.

He led Marinette and Emilie towards the heart of the palace where the statue of Amphitrite stood: a marvel of Nereid creation.

"The Nereid people worship her," said Emilie. "She alone can give us the blessing to enter the temple in this region. Go ahead, Marinette. Interact with it."

"Okay," said Marinette, praying silently to the marble goddess.

"Young Seekers," said a disembodied voice that our heroes could hear in their minds. "In order to obtain the beautiful yet destructive power of the sea, you must complete the trials set in Si'renia Temple. Equipped with courage in your hearts and the benevolence from my soul, I bless you with entrance into my dominion…"

Marinette, Emilie and C-Tron smiled at one another.

"Should you survive," finished the voice, making the smiles on their faces drop.

"S-She probably meant that rhetorically," said C-Tron, noticing a sudden fear in Marinette's eyes.

"The only way to find out is to do some good ol' dungeon crawling," said Emilie. « On y va, mes amis ! »

They arrived at the temple and had to stand back to take it all in. It was a hulking structure that towered over the players. It was circled by underwater waterfalls. A scaly stone object caught their attention. It snaked around the temple and eventually at the top of the temple stood the head of this object. It was a statue of a leviathan staring down at anyone who dared to enter.

"That's scary," said Marinette.

"Don't worry," said C-Tron. "It's just a statue. It can't hurt you."

As they swam into the dungeon, the room came to life: tiny particles of light danced throughout the room. The walls and platforms were made of marble and tall Grecian pillars stood at the corners of the platforms. Below them between the platforms was a rushing whirlpool.

The party looked for their current puzzle and saw a collection of lanterns in a diamond shape with one of the four elements corresponding to each edge.

"And here is the obligatory trick shot puzzle to open the door," said Emilie.

"How do we solve it?" asked Marinette.

"It seems simple enough," said C-Tron. "Our objective is to light them all in time. The problem is there are four sides and we only have three people. One of us will have to shoot our balls."

"Excuse me?!" shrieked Marinette. "That is highly inappropriate."

"I mean your Virtual Ricochet Projectiles," explained a blushing C-Tron. "What do you usually call them?"

"Spheres," said Marinette. "Not… that word. Anyway, I'll do it. I'm always trying to improve my aiming skills."

"Great," said C-Tron. "That settles it. I'll start us off and you two will take it from there."

C-Tron threw a Heat projectile against the curved wall which bounced to the left and hit the formerly unlit lanterns. Emilie was next, throwing a Cold projectile and doing the same with her set of lanterns.

Marinette was last and, with perfect timing and precision, swiveled at just the right moment to light the remaining lanterns with Wave and Shock projectiles. The door became unlocked.

"Easy peasy," said Emilie.

The three arrived at the entrance which was a pair of clams with their hard shells facing the players that connected at the mouth to seal the doorway. The clams rolled to the sides, allowing them to cross.

The next room was similar to the first but bigger. There were marble columns, elemental orbs, and seaweed strewn throughout the chamber.

C-Tron found himself perturbed by the watery, blue orbs that this dungeon had to offer.

"Wait a minute," said C-Tron. "These orbs are water."

"Yeah, so?" countered Emilie.

"We're in an underwater temple," explained C-Tron. "The temples are supposed to give you the element opposite to its theme. I thought it would be something dry like sand, but no. We're using water... in a water temple?"

"New update, new rules," shrugged Emilie. "Not everything has to have consistency."

"I like consistency!" retorted C-Tron, holding his belief in science close to his chest.

As C-Tron and Emilie argued, Marinette pushed the column up against the edge of the platform. She swam up to a balcony and hopped from there onto the top of the column and attempted to jump onto the platform on the right side of the chamber.

Marinette failed to complete the jump and was pulled into a whirlpool, exploding into a million blue pixels. Everything went dark for a second, but then she reappeared on the ledge.

"I'm dead!" screamed Marinette. "Oh… wait."

"We're just avatars in a video game," chuckled Emilie from behind. "Remember?"

"Remind me never to fall into a bottomless pit again," sighed Marinette.

"Will do," replied C-Tron. "Now to get back to the puzzle."

"Right," said Marinette. "Let's see what happens when I do this."

Marinette maneuvered herself behind a Tide orb and shot a neutral sphere through it towards the marble column. It transformed into a water pillar.

"Wait," said C-Tron, exasperated. "We are supposed to use water underwater to turn pillars into water?"

"Yes, why not?" asked Emilie, a smug smirk on her face.

"It doesn't make any sense!" burst C-Tron. "Why would you use water when you already have water everywhere!?"

"Like I said," shrugged Emilie. "New update, new rules."

The water pillar turned back into a Grecian column. Marinette took note of the fact that this transformation had a time limit.

"Are you two going to keep arguing or are you going to help me?" said Marinette.

"Sorry," said C-Tron. "So, what's the plan?"

"Do you see that green pillar on the other side?" asked Marinette. "There's a green orb here and if we can hit that pillar with Wave then hit this green orb with the same projectile then we can bring it over here."

"Let's do it, then," said Emilie.

"Not so fast," said C-Tron. "There are two temporary walls where it would normally allow us to get the pillar but because they are up, we can't do it just yet."

"Exactly," said Marinette. "So let's put the pillars on each of these buttons. They move the walls out of the way."

C-Tron and Marinette pushed the two pillars onto the buttons and the blue walls on the other platform dropped, leaving the path open. Marinette shot at the left column with her Wave spheres. When it made contact, it just circled around the pillar instead of bouncing off.

"What!?" exclaimed Marinette. "If that didn't work then what will?"

"We're supposed to turn these pillars into water and then freeze them with Cold mode on," explained C-Tron. "And once we've done that, then we can hit the green one."

"Alright," said Emile. "You two take care of the freezing and I'll take care of the teleporting."

At the same time, C-Tron and Marinette shot through the Tide orb towards their respective pillars with their projectiles making a V-shape as they trailed off. They then hit the now water pillars with Cold projectiles, freezing them.

Emilie got into position in front of the two pillars and shot the left pillar with her Wave projectile. It bounced off, hit the green pillar on the other platform, ricocheted towards the right icy pillar and finally hit the green orb.

The green pillar warped onto the platform the players were standing over. After the frozen pillars returned to their original forms, they pulled all three towards mechanical tiles on the ground. As these pillars sank into the tiles, a tunnel formed between the two platforms, allowing them to cross.

The party grabbed a nearby key, stood on a key tile and shot at a lock on the virtual barrier in front of the door. They all passed through the clam door.

This next room was similar to the first except it was empty save for two Tide orbs, two bombs, and a square tile on the ground.

"Looks like this room is empty," said Marinette. "I guess we'll just walk to the next section."

Soon after the three started walking, all the exits were sealed with blue virtual dividers. The tile in the middle of the floor started flashing random numbers in red until eventually it ended on "02." Two jellyfish slightly larger than the players formed in the room from pixelated material.

"I'm always forgetting about this part," said Marinette.

"We should have known it wasn't going to be that easy," said Emilie.

They prepared themselves and commenced their high speed combat with the aquatic enemies. Marinette threw Shock spheres their way, but it only damaged them very lightly.

She attempted to dodge one charging jellyfish but it was too fast. It trapped her inside its body and crushed her inside, removing large amounts of health. It spat her out, allowing her to continue the battle.

"Amber Strike!" called Emilie, lunging at the jellyfish and exploding in a burst of Shock three times.

Her attack was not very effective.

"We have to use the element that the temple gave us," said C-Tron. "That's always their weakness."

Marinette stood in front of the Tide orb and inundated the bomb with water projectiles. She swiped at the bomb and it struck one jellyfish, exploding on impact. The bomb caused the jellyfish to engorge with water, entering the "Drown" status effect.

"Everyone, attack that jelly!" shouted Marinette.

All three party members focused their attacks on this enemy. Each hit squeezed a bit of water out of the jellyfish until it was no longer engorged and was ready to fight again. It was had a significantly lower health bar than before.

They continued to take advantage of this exploit until both enemies were down. The square tile in the middle returned to the number "00" and the dividers came back down.

"We are breezing through this temple, huh?" remarked Emilie.

"Well, we've already completed four temples before this one," said C-Tron. "We've learned all the game's patterns."

"Or maybe it's because the developers finally allowed us to go through it together," said Marinette. "We can work together and make up for one another's weakness. I'd say it makes it more fun."

They warped up to the third floor. This room was the same as the previous, even down to the square tile on the floor.

"Alright," said Marinette. "I'm not going to get tricked this time. Everyone, be on your guard."

All three players had their weapons raised as they inched closer towards the exit. Just like before, virtual dividers sprang up and the tile in the middle flashed random red numbers. This time, the enemies in this room appeared before the tile stopped. It continued going haywire.

The enemies here were a school of moonfish, tightly grouped together and swimming as one entity. They charged after Emilie and she managed to get out of the way just in time but not without receiving a bite on her shoulder.

"Ow!" shrieked Emilie. "They're really not here to play."

"They're strong together but weak on their own," said C-Tron. "Separate them and we've got them cornered."

"Right," added Marinette. "Same song and dance as before. Aim at the bombs!"

Emilie shot projectiles through the Tide orb and filled the bomb. Just as she was about to shoot the bomb at the school of fish, they swarmed her.

« Merde ! » cursed Emilie loudly, overwhelmed by the ambush.

Emilie was being smothered by the school of moonfish, each one pushing and shoving to get at her. In the blink of an eye, a mass of blue pixels dissipated from within: Emilie was no longer with them.

"No!" shrieked Marinette. "Emilie!"

"This can't be happening," said C-Tron in disbelief.

Marinette felt sick to her stomach. These enemies were vicious. Marinette swiped at the bomb Emilie left behind and aimed it at the moonfish. The bomb scattered them and incapacated them. Marinette and C-Tron took this opportunity to unleash their anger on their opponents.

Marinette blasted the floor with flame, creating a burning circle of fire. They swung their weapons at the moonfish, unleashing combo after combo. C-Tron stabbed through the monsters with Cold projectiles and finished them off by executing a Lightning Storm, sizzling them all to a crisp.

The counter in the middle of the room finally started counting down the remaining enemies. "03," "02," "01," "00." Their fight was over and the dividers let up.

The two players were now able to continue on their journey, but the trauma of losing Emilie kept them glued to the platform.

"We should go," said C-Tron somberly.

"I don't know if I can finish," whimpered Marinette. "We can't just leave like this. Without her, the next part of the dungeon might be too hard for us."

"We can do it," said C-Tron. "This dungeon was designed to be completed by one person. Sure, it'll be harder without her, but it won't be impossible. Let's finish this for Emilie. It's what she would have wanted."

"For Emilie," echoed Marinette.

She felt a renewed sense of motivation because of C-Tron's words, feeling like she could move her fins again. She and C-Tron swam over to the exit door, entering the final room. Above their heads, the ceiling had an oval window that gave a view into the ocean above and an occasional peek at the stone Leviathan's tail.

Marinette and C-Tron saw the loving statues of the gods of the sea, Triton and Amphitrite situated across the room. C-Tron read the plaque:

"Our patron god and goddess ruled over their kingdom of the sea, taming the ancient beast, Leviathan, and giving birth to Nereidkind. Their love made waves in the ocean and caused the moon to smile down on them. Apart, the gods were weak; together, they were perfect."

"Apart, they were weak," thought Marinette aloud. "Together they were perfect. So we have to… bring the statues together?"

"Seems like it," said C-Tron. "Let's see what happens."

Marinette and C-Tron swam up the steps and held onto their respective statues. Just as they were about to be reunited, the oval glass above them shattered. Marinette and C-Tron looked up to see who the culprit could be but all they saw was broken glass floating down into the temple room.

"What was that?" asked Marinette.

"I don't know," said C-Tron. "But we're going to find out."

The formerly stone Leviathan slithered onto the battlefield and got ready to strike at our heroes.

"It's the final boss!" said Marinette.

C-Tron and Marinette braced themselves for whatever the Leviathan was going to do. They dodged every move it made. It would do things like using a wall as a springboard and shooting at the players like a bullet. It also had a move where it slithered above them and came down in a violent splash. This enemy was trying their patience when an idea came to C-Tron.

"Marinette," called C-Tron. "Grab his attention while I sneak up behind him."

"What are you going to do?" asked Marinette.

"You'll know it when you see it," said C-Tron.

While the Leviathan was preparing to strike, Marinette threw as many spheres as she could to serve as a distraction. C-Tron stalked behind the boss, locking eyes with Marinette. He silently reassured her that he had to make this sacrifice.

"No, C-Tron!" she yelled.

C-Tron ignored Marinette's cry as he assumed his spellcasting stance, staring the Leviathan squarely in the eyes.

"Wave Motion Beam!" bellowed C-Tron.

He drained the life force from the Leviathan and released it in the form of a powerful beam of green energy. Marinette could see C-Tron's HP deplete dramatically at breakneck speed.

As the beam came to a stop, a look of horror painted C-Tron's face—the Leviathan was still alive... and going in for the kill.

It drove its fangs through C-Tron's chest, leaving him as nothing but a swarm of blue pixels, vanishing before Marinette's very eyes.

Without so much as a single thought, Marinette instinctively zeroed in on the Leviathan's weak spot: a red jewel resting on its forehead. She realized what she had to do.

The Leviathan started swiping at Marinette with the full force of its body, but Marinette was able to perform a perfect dodge when she noticed time started to slow down.

"Thank you for adding the Witch Time feature, developers," joked Marinette to herself.

With this newly acquired advantage, Marinette scaled the length of the beast's body until she pounced on its head. She struck the gem with all her might, breaking the Leviathan's guard and making the great sea serpent collapse hard to the ground.

"Je t'ai eu!" shouted Marinette triumphantly.

As she took her stance to finish off Leviathan, thoughts began to cloud her mind. She remembered all the great memories she created with her new friends and used her newfound strength to utter the call of power: "Ragnarök!"

Scorching flames enveloped Marinette as she launched herself up. She fell back to the ground like a meteor, pounding the floor and ending in a fiery mushroom cloud that blasted through Leviathan as it pixelated into a brilliant, blue display.

"Finally," said Marinette. "It's over. Now to finish this puzzle."

Marinette pushed her body through the exhaustion to move the Triton and Amphitrite statues. As they clicked into place, their outstretched hands affectionately held onto one another—the two lovers were back together. She heard a voice come from the statues.

"Dear Seeker," started Amphitrite. "Ten thousand years my king and I have been separated, held hostage by that stone Leviathan. After all this time you have brought us back together and for that we are eternally grateful."

A tear fell down Marinette's cheek, both of joy and hope for finding a love as enduring as theirs.

"For completing the quest in Si'renia Temple," said Triton. "We bestow upon you the majestic power of the sea."

Marinette felt herself rising on a platform, seeing white energy encircle her until she heard a "ding" sound effect: [Tide Mode] activated.

Marinette opened her eyes to find that she had teleported back to the pier of Rookie Harbor, overlooking the great ocean she had just conquered.

"Walking on land feels weird now," she said to herself, looking down at her own feet.

"No fair," complained Emilie. "I demand a do-over!"

A shot of surprise and happiness filled Marinette's face as she ran to embrace Emilie and C-Tron warmly, excited to see her friends again after the harrowing journey.

"Thank goodness, you guys are okay," said Marinette. "I thought you guys were hurt for real."

"You do know that we're just playing a game, right?" said Emilie. "Are you sure that you're level 50?"

"As a matter of fact," said Marinette, looking through her character stats. "I'm… level 51?! All that work for just one level?!"

"But you are the very first avatar to obtain Tide Mode," complimented C-Tron, reminding her excitedly. "Let's see it then, Marinette. Show us what you got!"

"Yeah, use those boxes as target practice," said Emilie, pointing at a stack of plain, brown boxes.

Marinette shifted into Tide Mode, feeling her whole body as it became one with the new element. Her movements were now as graceful and fluid as water.

"Amphitrite's Heart!" she said, conjuring a giant clam to shield herself from danger.

"Ooh," said Emilie. "Another one!"

"Nereid Spirit!" said Marinette, this time charging at the boxes while being protected by a whirlpool.

"That's incredible," said C-Tron. "I think that was a partially 3D animation!"

"That's not all," teased Marinette with a devilish smile on her face. "Triton's Punishment!"

Marinette shot a powerful jet of bubbles at one of the boxes, obliterating it in a watery death (if it were an enemy, anyway).

"That one wasn't as great," joked Emilie. "We need something to really wow us. Got anything else?"

"Watch and learn," said Marinette. "Leviathan's Geyser!"

As she yelled the command, Marinette summoned a tall column of water that towered 20 feet above their heads. Emilie and C-Tron were left speechless as Marinette pulled the water to completely wash away the boxes in a small, controlled tidal wave.

« Bien joué, » remarked Emilie like a giddy schoolgirl, making Marinette and C-Tron laugh.

"It's getting very late," said C-Tron. "I have to get to my studies before I go to sleep. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" said the two girls in unison as C-Tron logged out and his avatar dematerialized.

"Well, it's been fun," said Emilie. "But I've put off doing my homework for too long. I have to go, too. Wait, we're both in France, right?"

"Yeah," said Marinette.

"Who knows," said Emilie. "We might see each other in person. Goodbye!"

Emilie logged off.

"I guess that leaves me," said Marinette feeling a little lonely already.

She looked out at the beautiful world of CrossWorlds one last time before finally logging off, too. Marinette woke up from the game and took off her virtual reality headgear. She sat up in bed and looked out her window.

"They could be walking by me on the street and I wouldn't know a thing," she thought.

Just then, she noticed her phone lit up. She unlocked it and read a social media notification on her phone—new friend requests from Emilie-Sophie "Emilienator" de Belmond and Toby "C-Tron" Tremblay. All Marinette could do was smile to herself.


End file.
